10 Ways to Accidentally Fall in Love

Chapter 27

Brad

I fling open the door to Jason and Cas’s apartment.

“I took a quarter of a dick!”

My best friend sets down his fork and turns to face me. Cas keeps eating.

“Not a quarter-sized dick,” I clarify. “It was a very large dick. Or, well, not huge . Little above average? Perfectly sized, in my opinion. Greg is a great dick. My point is Joey fucked me. A little bit. And I liked it.”

Understatement. Pretty sure I’m a cock slut now. Who knew?

Jason sighs, the weariest sound I’ve ever heard in my life.

“Dude, you okay?” I ask, turning to close the door. The woman across the hall has wide eyes, and I give her a smile and a wave before she’s cut off from sight.

“What do you mean by ‘a little bit’?” Cas asks.

“Oh, like, he got the tip in, and I blew,” I explain, heading toward the couch. “But good news! Douching was a huge success. What are we eating?”

Jason makes a disgruntled sound as I squeeze in beside him, but Cas holds up his hand. “Nice job, man. I’m proud of you for being open to new experiences.”

“Thanks, dude,” I tell him, feeling choked up as I slap his palm. “That’s really sweet of you to say.”

“Get a room,” Jason mumbles.

“I really doubt you want me doing that, Birdie. I like dick now, so— Ow , your nails are like claws!”

I wriggle away from Jason’s grip, contemplating sitting next to Cas before thinking better of it. I plop down on the floor on the other side of the coffee table.

“So,” I say, grabbing a container of fried rice, “how are we all feeling about snowballing? ’Cause it sounds hot.”

Jason throws his hands in the air. “I was eating .”

“And I’m curious about sharing jizz through the tender magic of kissing. What’s the big deal?”

“Hey, I’m helping put together a bachelor auction next weekend,” Cas says as Jason tries to skewer me with his eyes. Yeesh . Moody today. “Any chance you and Joey would want to participate?”

“Oh,” I say, my gut doing a weird little dive. “Is it, like, auctioning off a date?”

“Not at all,” Cas says. “It’s any service you want to provide to the highest bidder. Non -sexual, of course. Proceeds will help refurbish run-down parks and community centers in the area.”

“Damn you and your good heart,” I mutter happily. “Count me in. I’ll have to check with Joey, though.”

“Sure,” Cas says easily. “Just let me know by Tuesday.”

“Will the guys be there?” I ask, snagging a crab rangoon.

“Most of them, yeah. Why?”

“No reason,” I say, a grin spreading across my face. “I just happened to mention Alex to Joey the other day. This’ll give me a chance to introduce the two of them.”

Jason raises an eyebrow but doesn’t comment. Me?

I ponder what sort of service I could offer for Cas’s charity auction.

“Do you think people would pay for hugs?” I ask Joey.

He’s doing chest presses while I work on leg curls. We’ll switch machines once we’re done with our reps.

“Probably,” Joey answers, his arm muscles doing very nice things. “People pay others to cuddle them, right?”

“Oh my God,” I realize. “I could do that! Platonic cuddle sesh. Unless… Would that bother you? If I cuddled someone?”

Joey is quiet for a long moment, his face set in concentration or contemplation, maybe. “You’re a physically affectionate person, bub. I wouldn’t ask you to change that.”

The sentiment hits me warmly before I realize Joey didn’t actually answer the question.

He goes on before I can bring it up. “I think I’ll offer a remodeling service. I could do kitchen cabinets or whatever the person needs.”

“That’s a great idea,” I tell him, switching to the chest press machine when Joey waves me in. He starts his leg curls. “We both know when it comes to polishing wood, you’re, uh… You…”

“Brad?” Joey prompts, lying on his stomach now, his ass in the air and his legs curling behind him.

“Hard,” I mumble. “You’re hard…to beat! At wood. You’re an exceptionally hard woodworker. Very…proficient and stuff. The hammies probably help. Why am I sweating so much?”

Joey huffs a laugh as I do my best to focus on my chest presses and not the way I want Joey to press me between his thighs.

“Hey, so—”

My ringing phone stops me from asking if Joey would be interested in squeezing my head like an exercise ball later. Probably for the best, considering gym-boners are frowned upon. I pull out my phone and answer Jason’s call.

“Hey, Birdie.”

“Uh… What the fuck is on the wall of your bedroom?” he asks without a hello.

“Dude, you’re in my bedroom?”

Not wanting to disturb the other gym-goers, I stand, pointing toward the windows so Joey knows where I’ll be. He gives me a nod, and I head that way.

“Yeah,” Jason says. “You asked me to drop off your suit. All clean and pressed, by the way. You’re welcome for that. Now why am I staring at your nearly naked ass with…is that Joey? Your gym guy?”

“Gym guy,” I say with a snort. Sweet, oblivious Jason. “It’s gym-bro. And yeah, that’s him. Why?”

“Why?” he parrots. “Uh…I thought that’d be obvious. Is this…from that boudoir photoshoot?”

“Yeah, his date didn’t show up, so I stepped in. I just got the picture hung up the other day. What’s the problem? I thought it looked nice.”

“Putting aside the fact that you hung this in your bedroom…or anywhere for that matter…” He takes a breath, puffing it out. “Bee. That man is in love with you.”

“What?” I nearly screech.

“He is one hundred percent in love with you.”

I huff. “No way, dude. That was, like, a couple weeks after we met. We weren’t even… you know back then. We were just friends.”

“Yeah…” he says slowly. “Your friend? He’s looking at you as if you’re the single most important thing in his life. He has feelings for you, Bee. Big ones. Like, the biggest. So whatever it is you two are doing? This whole friends with benefits thing? It either needs to end or… not end. You can’t string this guy along.”

I look back at Joey, my pulse pounding so hard I can hear it in my ears. He’s wiping down his machine, not paying me or my phone call any attention.

“I wasn’t…” I try to explain, my thoughts getting jumbled. “I’m not…”

“I know you would never try to hurt him,” Jason says, his voice softening. “But if you’re not… feeling it, you need to cut things off. Before he gets in any deeper.”

I clutch my phone tight, unable to take my eyes off Joey. “How’d you know? That you were in love with Cas?”

Jason is quiet for a minute. “It wasn’t any one thing. It felt…inevitable. From the very beginning. He was…unlike anyone else I’d ever known. All I wanted was to spend time with him. To know him better. He made me feel strong because I never doubted what I meant to him. I fell in love like the changing of the seasons. Slowly and inescapably. And I knew it because…because I didn’t want to look forward into a future that didn’t have him.”

I let out a breath, wiping at my cheek. “I’m really happy for you, you know.”

“Yeah,” he says quietly. “I do know. I’m happy for me, too. Do you…do you think you might be in love with Joey?”

Joey himself finally looks my way, smiling softly as he catches my eye. Even from halfway across the room, I can see the warmth in his gaze. The way those brown eyes are impossibly kind and endlessly patient. Is Jason right? Is that love?

I return Joey’s smile, even as my gut rolls at the thought of hurting this man in any shape or form. I never wanted that. I don’t want to hurt Joey.

“I think…” I say slowly, Joey’s words from the other day coming to mind, along with the same feeling of unfathomable fondness they evoked in me the first time around, the swell of it in my chest almost uncomfortable but…not. “I think every day he’s in it is better simply because he’s there.”

Jason lets out a quiet hum. “You do like him.”

“So much,” I admit, knowing the words aren’t nearly enough. “I don’t want to break things off. I want…”

Boyfriend seems like such a trite word. I’ve been a boyfriend before. But none of my past relationships felt anything like what I have with Joey.

Have I been fooling myself? Going along with this whole bennies package out of fear that he might not feel the same way I do? But if he does… If Jason is right…

“I have some thinking to do,” I tell my friend.

“Of course. I didn’t fuck things up, did I?” Jason asks. “I wasn’t trying to be a dick. I just—”

“No,” I assure him. “I think I needed to hear it. Thank you.”

“Yeah,” he says. “I’ll see you Friday?”

“Yep. Love you, Birdie.”

“You, too, Bee.”

I click off the call and slip my phone back in my pocket. Blowing out a breath, I head over to where Joey is waiting.

“Hey,” he says as soon as I’m close. “Everything all right?”

“Yep,” I answer as chipperly as I can. “I think I’m done here, though. Ready to head out?”

“Sure. Your place or mine tonight?”

“It’s a Joey-bode night,” I say as we walk toward the locker room. “I just need to take care of something first, so meet you there?”

Joey gives me a searching look, but then he nods.

We wash up in separate showers, like usual, but we end up in front of our lockers at the same time, pulling on our clothes almost in sync. I don’t stop myself from looking Joey over, knowing no one else is around to care about my ogling. Joey certainly doesn’t seem to mind. He perks up—in more ways than one—as his gaze rakes over me in return.

I didn’t see Joey walk in today, having arrived after him, so when he finishes getting dressed and pulls the bright pink fanny pack out of his locker, I choke on a laugh.

“Quite handy,” he says, giving me a wink as he clips it on, the jangle of his keys inside evident.

“Fuck,” I mutter, that fondness trying to crack my chest open. “Why are you so great?”

“You sure you’re all right?” he asks, looking at me in an almost worried way. I don’t know why until I register the moisture at the corners of my eyes.

“Fine,” I say quickly, blinking and grabbing my things. “See you in an hour or so?”

“Yeah. C’mere.”

I step forward, and Joey tugs me in the rest of the way. The feel of his lips against mine is just as intoxicatingly perfect as his arms wrapped around me. I can sense the inexplicable prickling of tears again and forcibly quell them, my hold on Joey’s shirt pulling the fabric tight.

I don’t know what my problem is apart from, you know, realizing this dude right here is who I want my forever to be with. Which…yeah. I guess that’s a pretty big fucking deal.

When Joey breaks from my lips, he doesn’t go far. He kisses my temple, his hand on the back of my head keeping me close. There’s a small sound that leaves his throat, almost like an aborted word, but then he lets me go.

“Okay,” he says softly. “See you in an hour?”

“Yep,” I answer, trying to keep my voice steady considering it feels like my entire world has tilted on its axis in the span of fifteen minutes or so.

I shut my locker. Joey does the same. Then we make our way out of the gym.

When I get home, the first thing I do is pull out my phone. It rings three times before Cas picks up.

“Hey, Brad. What’s up?”

“I have a favor to ask. This charity auction… Do you have, like, an MC? Someone who presents the bachelors or whatever you’re calling us?”

“We do,” he says slowly. “Why do you ask?”

“Do you think… I mean, could I introduce Joey?”

After a brief pause, he says, “I don’t see why not. Why? What are you thinking?”

“Let’s just say this Baby has a plan. And nobody puts Baby in the corner.”

Another pause. “ Dirty —”

“ Dirty Dancing , my man, heck yeah! Such a good movie.”

“It’s pretty great,” he agrees.

“Okay. I’m gonna let you go. I have a script to write. Another question, though… Are there, like, words I should avoid? Swear words or…other things?”

“Oh boy.”

When I click off the call ten minutes later, I sit down in front of my coffee table, knocking a controller aside and slapping down a familiar pad of paper. I flip past Joey’s interview on likes, dislikes, family planning, and kinks, as well as my own list of life steps I’ve been absolutely smashing, and I smooth down a blank page, my pen at the ready.

My hand can hardly keep up with the words forming inside my head, my scrawl messy and barely legible. I do my best to get everything down, knowing I can polish it later.

It’s not every day a person professes their undying love.

I’m damn well gonna do it in style.